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OT: Wrestling - Quo Vadis

Man, a couple of years ago they were supposed to have all these top recruiting classes in and headed for the big time. That ship sure sank quickly.
 
Dual meet wise,wrestling at NU is deader than nails. Just look at the rosters of PSU,Iowa,Minnesota,and Michigan. They all have 35-40 guys on the roster compared to 21 for NU. Every school is different,but NU has an absurdly low roster limit,of somewhere around 23 for Title 9 purposes, So we can never get the depth of those other teams. Also, tuition is too much for the average walk on. You can't have a work study job and compete at the BT level. As a freshman at NU,I walked on, beat the returning starter,and took fifth in the prestigious Illinois Open. I lettered as a true frosh and would have been an All American by my junior or senior year in college. For the next three years,my work study job killed my passion for the sport. The guy I beat twice as a frosh,lettered the next three years,and took fifth in the BT. He never would have beat me if I didn't have to work ten hours a week at Saga during the season. The only thing NU can hope for is a few studs like Jason Welch,Brandon Precin, and Tsirtsis, to be multiple AAs so we can finish top twenty at nationals. Wrestling is a barbaric sport,and likely,will be on its way out of college sports in a few years. Just google the article about how wrestling leads the NCAA in concussions. Smaller schools won't be able to afford the cost of fielding a team cuz no one watches college wrestling,except the few big schools. The NU wrestling ship has sunk. Pariano was a great coach and I hope he lands a good job somewhere. Last year, the top recruiting class in the country was at NU, but those fab three chose not to wrestle for one reason or another. Not one of those four studs that were part of the number one class have won one BT match in two years.
 
Dual meet wise,wrestling at NU is deader than nails. Just look at the rosters of PSU,Iowa,Minnesota,and Michigan. They all have 35-40 guys on the roster compared to 21 for NU. Every school is different,but NU has an absurdly low roster limit,of somewhere around 23 for Title 9 purposes, So we can never get the depth of those other teams. Also, tuition is too much for the average walk on. You can't have a work study job and compete at the BT level. As a freshman at NU,I walked on, beat the returning starter,and took fifth in the prestigious Illinois Open. I lettered as a true frosh and would have been an All American by my junior or senior year in college. For the next three years,my work study job killed my passion for the sport. The guy I beat twice as a frosh,lettered the next three years,and took fifth in the BT. He never would have beat me if I didn't have to work ten hours a week at Saga during the season. The only thing NU can hope for is a few studs like Jason Welch,Brandon Precin, and Tsirtsis, to be multiple AAs so we can finish top twenty at nationals. Wrestling is a barbaric sport,and likely,will be on its way out of college sports in a few years. Just google the article about how wrestling leads the NCAA in concussions. Smaller schools won't be able to afford the cost of fielding a team cuz no one watches college wrestling,except the few big schools. The NU wrestling ship has sunk. Pariano was a great coach and I hope he lands a good job somewhere. Last year, the top recruiting class in the country was at NU, but those fab three chose not to wrestle for one reason or another. Not one of those four studs that were part of the number one class have won one BT match in two years.

Don't follow closely, so did this fab 4 ( or it 3) redshirt or somehow quit/ leave the program? Will they participate next season?
 
Dual meet wise,wrestling at NU is deader than nails. Just look at the rosters of PSU,Iowa,Minnesota,and Michigan. They all have 35-40 guys on the roster compared to 21 for NU. Every school is different,but NU has an absurdly low roster limit,of somewhere around 23 for Title 9 purposes, So we can never get the depth of those other teams. Also, tuition is too much for the average walk on. You can't have a work study job and compete at the BT level. As a freshman at NU,I walked on, beat the returning starter,and took fifth in the prestigious Illinois Open. I lettered as a true frosh and would have been an All American by my junior or senior year in college. For the next three years,my work study job killed my passion for the sport. The guy I beat twice as a frosh,lettered the next three years,and took fifth in the BT. He never would have beat me if I didn't have to work ten hours a week at Saga during the season. The only thing NU can hope for is a few studs like Jason Welch,Brandon Precin, and Tsirtsis, to be multiple AAs so we can finish top twenty at nationals. Wrestling is a barbaric sport,and likely,will be on its way out of college sports in a few years. Just google the article about how wrestling leads the NCAA in concussions. Smaller schools won't be able to afford the cost of fielding a team cuz no one watches college wrestling,except the few big schools. The NU wrestling ship has sunk. Pariano was a great coach and I hope he lands a good job somewhere. Last year, the top recruiting class in the country was at NU, but those fab three chose not to wrestle for one reason or another. Not one of those four studs that were part of the number one class have won one BT match in two years.

That is, indeed, a small roster for 10 weight classes.
 
Top recruiting class to a sunk ship seemingly overnight. Something very un-NU about this ...... strange and disappointing.

No matter the ups and downs with FB or BB, I have been able to say to myself : Well, at least we have a very good, up-and-coming wrestling program.

What happened here? How did this go so wrong, so fast? And where was Dr. P?
 
Top recruiting class to a sunk ship seemingly overnight. Something very un-NU about this ...... strange and disappointing.

No matter the ups and downs with FB or BB, I have been able to say to myself : Well, at least we have a very good, up-and-coming wrestling program.

What happened here? How did this go so wrong, so fast? And where was Dr. P?

This was the largest margin of victory in Iowa wrestling history. And they've been damn good for a long time.
 
I was at the meet today, NU with their severely depleted roster didn't have a chance. Two of NU's top three wrestlers, Jameson Oster & Bryce Brill, were out with injury and former NCAA champ, Jason Tsirtsis, had to injury default during his match with an elbow problem.
Regarding their #1 rated recruiting class from two years ago unfortunately that hasn't gone as planned so far.
Bryce Brill, from Illinois Mt. Carmel, began last year starting as a freshman, but then was forced to sit out the remainder of the year due to injury. Brill began this season again in the starting lineup at 157, but unfortunately is injured again with his return this year in question.
Johnny Sebastian redshirted as a freshman, did well in open competitions but unfortunately suffered a shoulder injury and is out for the 2015-16 season.
The third wrestler from the #1 class,Steven Micic, who redshirted freshman year, did very well wrestling unattached during last year decided to transfer to Michigan just before this season began. Micic was quoted as stating he felt Michigan gave him a better chance to reach his goals.
Depending upon how Brill and Sebastian return from their injuries along with whatever goes on with the bizzare head coaching position firing will determine much of how they do the next couple of seasons.
I do agree that NU seems to have an incredibly small roster compared to the other top teams.
 
Rough year. From Micic leaving to whatever happened to Pariano to no depth/impossibly small roster to the 4 best wrestlers we have being injured essentially all season ---- I truly don't know how to compare it to other sports. How would basketball do if it lost its top 4 players and maybe only had 10 scholarship guys to begin with?
 
At the end of the day, they recruited poorly. You need to examine the mind of an incoming frosh? Are they team players? Do they love the sport? Can they balance both academics and wrestling? NU is an outstanding school with many opportunities to grow and learn outside the wrestling mat. I had many positive experiences outside wrestling and grew from learning from the many amazing (most not jocks) at NU! Truth be told, I rarely hung around jocks,many of whom were too individualistic for my tastes. By the way, I have free downloads to my spiritual and golf books below. Happy reading to those who want to grow in other ways besides seeing guys pound each other into oblivion on football fields or wrestling mats. I was a three time Chicago Park District Boxing finalist,one time champ. Both wrestling and boxing are barbaric and I would not want my loved ones doing that at the college level.


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My blog below has an article on Emotional Core Therapy and Scientific Evidence. This blog also has my free one hour training video, free download of my spiritual and golf and media links.

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Not sure how any of that relates to highly ranked recruits suffering injuries while competing?
Does getting injured make them less of a team player?
Sorry, I have nothing to market.
 
I'm like Michael Jordan,never say day never! That being said, Northwestern wrestling is at a crisis point,imho. You are going to see mass beat downs like what happened yesterday for much of this year. NU needs a head coach who can get thirty guys on the roster somehow.. They can have a solid individual team next year,but losing like this takes its toll. Wrestling and top academic schools like NU are very hard to balance. The sport is too hostile,so after a while,kids do the smart thing,and just check out and get their education. Free four year rides to these prima donnas. What a joke! In hindsight, I was glad things didn't work out for me at NU as a wrestler! Too risky having guys try and tear off your limbs. Just watch an MMA match! Not much different. No one,outside the coaching staff knows more than me about NU wrestling over the last ten years. Drew is an exceptional coach. I hope he gets a top coaching job somewhere. His record is better than Fitz's these last six years,by a long shot. He finished top fifteen in NCAAs pretty much every year. Including multiple NCAA champs and multiple AAs. Football is easier on the body than wrestling. By the way, half the kids on NUs current roster wouldn't make second string at Northern Illinois. The situation is worse than people think. By the way, I counsel jocks at all levels,pro and amateur. The sports psychology/golf psychology book can help any jock who wants to better their game. Actually, my work does relate pretty well to the topic. Wrestlers at NU,like all students,face relationship choices. Shall I sit in a sauna, get pounded on,have multiple surgeries,or shall I invest in the long run and crack open those books. Hard not to blame these kids for checking out of a rigorous sport. You only have about 5-6 real dedicated, talented wrestlers on this year's team,imho. The golden era of NU wrestling was the Lang/Herbert/Fox years. All those guys were NCAA Champs/finalists.
 
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Wrestler, to your comment that "Wrestling and top academic schools like NU are very hard to balance", how do you explain Cornell wrestling? Tough academic environment and an excellent wrestling program. If Cornell has been able to develop and maintain a top notch wrestling program, why not NU? ( I suspect that part of the answer is that Cornell has a cadre of devoted boosters who have donated bow-coo $ to their wrestling program, including a dedicated wrestling field house. )
 
Wrestler, to your comment that "Wrestling and top academic schools like NU are very hard to balance", how do you explain Cornell wrestling? Tough academic environment and an excellent wrestling program. If Cornell has been able to develop and maintain a top notch wrestling program, why not NU? ( I suspect that part of the answer is that Cornell has a cadre of devoted boosters who have donated bow-coo $ to their wrestling program, including a dedicated wrestling field house. )
The vast majority of Cornell wrestlers are in the agriculture program. Not the real classes. Just like most of the jocks at NU are in Learning Science/ School of Ed. Both are watered down programs where u can get by with a 23-26 ACT. 90% of both teams scholarship wrestlers would not handle C level( upper class microeconomics at NU. I know, I majored in both. Both schools have some backups who take the rigorous classes.
 
The vast majority of Cornell wrestlers are in the agriculture program. Not the real classes. Just like most of the jocks at NU are in Learning Science/ School of Ed. Both are watered down programs where u can get by with a 23-26 ACT. 90% of both teams scholarship wrestlers would not handle C level( upper class microeconomics at NU. I know, I majored in both. Both schools have some backups who take the rigorous classes.

I don't think Northwestern still has a School of Education. I know the building that housed it burned or was torn down decades ago and was never replaced. I think you are being a little harsh on NU's student athlete wrestlers though. You went on to become a nationally published author and my NU wrestler son is now practicing medicine after he graduated from Northwestern in Chemistry and went on to Case Western Medical School.
 
I don't think Northwestern still has a School of Education. I know the building that housed it burned or was torn down decades ago and was never replaced. I think you are being a little harsh on NU's student athlete wrestlers though. You went on to become a nationally published author and my NU wrestler son is now practicing medicine after he graduated from Northwestern in Chemistry and went on to Case Western Medical School.

Northwestern still has a "School of Education & Social Policy":
https://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/
 
Northwestern still has a "School of Education & Social Policy":
https://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/

Thanks for the link. I see that The School of Education & Social Policy has really evolved to expand its mission and scope with greater emphasis on the graduate program. I don't recall the "Social Policy" being part of its name back in the day but I see the current school claims a heritage back to 1926. I am curious if there was a break in the school's presence after the School of Education's building burned or was torn down decades ago and if the current school rose Phoenix like from its ashes.
 
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Thanks for the link. I see that The School of Education & Social Policy is a different animal from the original School of Education which traditionally prepared undergraduates to become school teachers. Curious if the current program claims any connection to the original one that was once housed in the building that burned or was torn down decades ago?
Of Northwestern's current roster of 21 guys, only two,Malone,and Trisrtsis, have winning BT records. 90% of NUs current team would not place top five in the MAC conference. They need a Jordan Boroughs coach to come in.
 
I don't think Northwestern still has a School of Education. I know the building that housed it burned or was torn down decades ago and was never replaced. I think you are being a little harsh on NU's student athlete wrestlers though. You went on to become a nationally published author and my NU wrestler son is now practicing medicine after he graduated from Northwestern in Chemistry and went on to Case Western Medical School.
How many BT matches did your med school son win? What's his name?
 
Just an FYI,my dad died when I was 13 in a fire a month after we kicked him out for starting our house on fire. My mom had 13 of her 14 kids before the age of 33. I didn't have a pot to piss in at NU as my mom never gave me a cent from her 15k a year waitress job.
 
Wrestling and top academic schools like NU are very hard to balance. The sport is too hostile,so after a while,kids do the smart thing,and just check out and get their education. Free four year rides to these prima donnas. What a joke!
Yes, NU has had some excellent wrestling teams over the past several years with at least 3-4 kids who were strong AA candidates. Since 2005 they had 24 All Americans and 4 national champs.
I disagree with the statement that the sport is to hostile to balance wrestling and "top academic schools like NU". As a matter of fact I believe that there is an inordinate number of high placing Illinois HS wrestlers that do end up at top institutions.
Below is a list of just Illinois wrestlers who were on the wrestling rosters at top academic schools during the 2014-15 school year:
Air Force Jared Koch Sr 184 Marian Catholic
Army Jack Lucie FR 141 Warsaw
Brown Steven Galliardo So 149 St Patrick
Cornell Steve Congenie So 197 Willowbrook
Duke Connor Bass So 157 Yorkville
Michigan Ernest Battaglia RFr 174 Hinsdale Cent
Michigan George Fisher RFr 133 Marmion
Michigan Cameron Kennedy RFr 133 Richmond Burton
Michigan Davonte Mahomes Fr 174 OPRF
Michigan Brian Murphy So 157 GBN
Michigan Garrett Sutton Fr 165 Richmond Burton
Michigan St Nick Proctor RSr 165 Neuqua Valley
Navy Paul Rands RSr 197 Cary Grove
Navy Colton Rasche SR 133 Montini
Navy Michael Woulfe Jr 184 OPRF
Northwestern Bryce Brill Fr 157 Mt. Carmel
Northwestern Regis Durbin Fr 197 Lake Forest
Northwestern Jameson Oster Jr 141 Lockport
Princeton Kevin Moylan Jr Stagg
Princeton Jordan Laster Fr 125 Montini
Princeton Jordan Reich Fr 125 Vernon Hills
Princeton Danny Santoro Sr 184 Barrington
Stanford Matt Garelli RSo 141 Fenwick
Stanford Josh Marchok RSo 285 Schaumburg
Stanford Tommy Pawelski So 125 Montini
Stanford Brian Rossi Fr 125 Lockport
Stanford Michael Sojka RJr 184 Winnebago
U of C Joe Ellis -- Richmond-Burton
U of C Nick Ferraro -- Marmion
U of C Steven Franke -- Wheaton-Warrenville South
U of C Justin Klein -- Neuqua Valley
U of C Mike McNulty -- Minooka
U of C Kavan Mulloy -- Lakes Community
U of C Paul Papoutsis -- New Trier
U of C Chase Scherer -- Eureka
U of C Michael Sepke -- Montini
U of C Ryan Walsh -- Niles Notre Dame
U of C Adam Wyeth -- Yorkville
 
How many BT matches did your med school son win? What's his name?

Not sure if this site has a PM feature or not, but perhaps you recognize him from the time you were helping with the program. While in medical school at Case Western he helped with the undergraduate school's wrestling program there and now has grade school age boys who are having fun wrestling at that level.

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Agree with you Bwm. IMO, wrestlers are singularly focused individuals. Back when I was in a position to hire people, I paid extra attention to CVs with a wrestling background not just because of their will to prevail, but also because of their ability to balance ( in this case, both academics and athletics ). Are there "dumb jock" wrestlers? Sure. But there are a good number of wrestlers who are strong in both mind and body. An example to add to your list above would be a ( perhaps infamous ) Secretary of the Treasury who had been an AAU wrestling champ.
 
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Yes, NU has had some excellent wrestling teams over the past several years with at least 3-4 kids who were strong AA candidates. Since 2005 they had 24 All Americans and 4 national champs.
I disagree with the statement that the sport is to hostile to balance wrestling and "top academic schools like NU". As a matter of fact I believe that there is an inordinate number of high placing Illinois HS wrestlers that do end up at top institutions.
Below is a list of just Illinois wrestlers who were on the wrestling rosters at top academic schools during the 2014-15 school year:
Air Force Jared Koch Sr 184 Marian Catholic
Army Jack Lucie FR 141 Warsaw
Brown Steven Galliardo So 149 St Patrick
Cornell Steve Congenie So 197 Willowbrook
Duke Connor Bass So 157 Yorkville
Michigan Ernest Battaglia RFr 174 Hinsdale Cent
Michigan George Fisher RFr 133 Marmion
Michigan Cameron Kennedy RFr 133 Richmond Burton
Michigan Davonte Mahomes Fr 174 OPRF
Michigan Brian Murphy So 157 GBN
Michigan Garrett Sutton Fr 165 Richmond Burton
Michigan St Nick Proctor RSr 165 Neuqua Valley
Navy Paul Rands RSr 197 Cary Grove
Navy Colton Rasche SR 133 Montini
Navy Michael Woulfe Jr 184 OPRF
Northwestern Bryce Brill Fr 157 Mt. Carmel
Northwestern Regis Durbin Fr 197 Lake Forest
Northwestern Jameson Oster Jr 141 Lockport
Princeton Kevin Moylan Jr Stagg
Princeton Jordan Laster Fr 125 Montini
Princeton Jordan Reich Fr 125 Vernon Hills
Princeton Danny Santoro Sr 184 Barrington
Stanford Matt Garelli RSo 141 Fenwick
Stanford Josh Marchok RSo 285 Schaumburg
Stanford Tommy Pawelski So 125 Montini
Stanford Brian Rossi Fr 125 Lockport
Stanford Michael Sojka RJr 184 Winnebago
U of C Joe Ellis -- Richmond-Burton
U of C Nick Ferraro -- Marmion
U of C Steven Franke -- Wheaton-Warrenville South
U of C Justin Klein -- Neuqua Valley
U of C Mike McNulty -- Minooka
U of C Kavan Mulloy -- Lakes Community
U of C Paul Papoutsis -- New Trier
U of C Chase Scherer -- Eureka
U of C Michael Sepke -- Montini
U of C Ryan Walsh -- Niles Notre Dame
U of C Adam Wyeth -- Yorkville
Kevin Moylan is my nephew and is off the team. Not one of the guys u listed is an upper class AA. I think Murphy was an AA,or almost last year as a frosh. Try going thru three years of school
 
Nolan's a great kid. I knew of him. I was the TV commentator for NU wrestling for a couple years back in the early nineties. I have talked with the nu wrestling coaches once or twice a week for past 8-9 years.
 
Kevin Moylan is my nephew and is off the team. Not one of the guys u listed is an upper class AA. I think Murphy was an AA,or almost last year as a frosh. Try going thru three years of school
Now they have to go to a "Top Academic Institution" and be AA?
Murphy was AA last year, don't forget Tsirtsis as Nat champ and third last year.
Murphy is 5th ranked on InterMat right now and Tisrtsis 3rd.
By the way, I saw Kevin Moylan wrestle many times in HS. One of my favorite matches of all time was his OT finals victory against NU's own Bryce Brill. My understanding was that he suffered several injuries which contributed to his retirement, not true?
 
Micic only attended NU for one year.
Would love to continue this conversation, but I'm busy teaching the muscles in my arms to flap really fast so I can fly down to Florida to escape this chilly Chicago weather. If it goes well I'm considering just continuing down to Aruba.
 
Micic wanted to Olympic Redshirt this year! That's two years on a full ride ,while NU gets smoked! Kid was too individualistic for my tastes. Last year ,Micic would have AAed as he beat the NCAA finalist, Zeke Moisely, in the Dapper Dan. I wrestled as a true frosh and that kid was ten times better than me,but didn't put the team first. At the end of the day,we wasted a scholarship on the kid
 
Again, Micic only attended NU for one year.
So you are telling me it was Micic's decision to redshirt, last year which was his true freshman year??
So you are telling me that the head coach didn't decide if Micic was going to redshirt or not last year??
Flap, flap, flap, flap.
 
Wrestler, to your comment that "Wrestling and top academic schools like NU are very hard to balance", how do you explain Cornell wrestling? Tough academic environment and an excellent wrestling program. If Cornell has been able to develop and maintain a top notch wrestling program, why not NU? ( I suspect that part of the answer is that Cornell has a cadre of devoted boosters who have donated bow-coo $ to their wrestling program, including a dedicated wrestling field house. )
Cornell uses the Ivy League absence of scholarships to its advantage much like Princeton did in lacrosse. Cornell offers need based scholarships, so rich kids can pay their own way whereas middle class kids get essentially a free ride, a much better deal than the partial scholarships at B1G schools
 
when I was young,wrestling was important to me. As I approached my late forties,health is paramount. I would not want my loved ones doing college wrestling or MMA,no matter how talented. Too much pressure on the joints. I don't see a great future for division one wrestling. Too high risk
 
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